Air-engine for flying-machines



C. E. HOLT.

AIR ENGINE FOR FLYING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 30, 1918.

Patented Mar. s, 1921.

II/m5014107, Clare/26e fa/f Wzizass es UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE.-

CLARENCE ERNEST HOLT, 0F HENRYETTA, OKLAHOMA.

AIR-ENGINE FOR FLYING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. v8, 1921.

Original application led August 23, 1918, Serial No. 251,184. Divided and this application filed December 3o, 191s.

T 0 @ZZ 'whom t may concer/n Be it known that I, CLARENCE E. HoL'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Henryetta, in the county of Olrmulgee and State of Oklahoma, have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-Engines for Flying-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to air engines for flying machines and air-craft in general, the object in view being to provide an air driven engine, the power of which may be utilized for various purposes, but especially for lifting and driving a flying machine such as disclosed in my contemporary application filed August 23, 1918, Serial Number 251,184 of which the present application is a division.

A further object of the invention is to provide an engine of the class referred to embodying a plurality ofv blades having a novel mounting in relation to the shaft driven ythereby so that the bladesmay be readily thrown into and out of operation and so that the .angles of pitch of the blades may be varied to produce greater or less lifting or depressing effect on the machine with which the engine is associated.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as herein described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective of the engine, showing the means for adjusting the blades thereof.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the hub of the engine.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken in line with the engine shaft, the latter being shown in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through one of the blades of the engine.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken adjacent to the engine shaft, showing the means for projecting and retracting the blade carrying arms of theengine.

Referring to the drawings 1` designates a normally vertical rotary engine shaft having a spirally threaded upper endportion 2 around which is disposed the engine hub 3. The hub 3 is formed with a plurality of guideways 4 extending therethrough as best shown in Fig. 2, and slidably mounted in said bearings are blade carrying arms 5, each having a rack face 6 consisting of Serial No. 269,003.

therein normally horizontal and pivotallyy mounted shutters `9, each shutter having at the opposite end thereof pintles 10 which are journaled in the vertical members of thev frame 8. The shutters 9 are free to open and close as they are acted upon by the wind during the rotary movement of the engine and as illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein it will be observed that the blades traveling toward the wind have the shutters open while those traveling away from the wind have the shutters closed. Thus, the wind acting upon the blades of the engine imparts rotary motion to the engine shaft. The frame of each bladek is strengthened by means of diagonal stay wires 11 as shown in Fig. 1. The shaft 1 is loosely arranged in a sleeve 1a which extends through a journal bearing 1e on a frame portion 1b and is fixed at its upper end to the hub 3 so as to transmit rotary motion thereto. A gear 29 is feathered on the sleeve 1a and is designed to be moved vertically by a hand lever 35 out of and into engagement with a complementary gear (not shown) connected with means to be driven by theengine. The lever 35 carries a detent 36 to coperate with a rack 37 in adjustably fixing the lever and the gear in different positions. l

The means for extending and retracting the arms 5 comprises a thumb latch lever 12, thelateh 13 of which is adapted to engage a stationary toothed rack 14 secured to a supporting frame 15 which is fixed to and underlies the frame portion 16 as shown in Fig. 1. Said frame 15 carries the rack 37 and has a pendent guide 88, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. The lever 12 has a sector gear 16 which engages a toothed vertical sliding member or step 17 in which the lower end ofthe shaft 1 is journaled as shown in Fig. 5. The slidablemember'17 is disposed and movable rectilinearly in the before mentioned pendent guide 38. By means of the lever 12, the shaft 1 may be raised and lowered and in such vertical movement of the shaft 1, the spirally grooved portion 2 thereof engages the rack faces 6 of the arms 5 moving the latter outwardly or inwardly in accordance with the direction of movement of the shaft 1. This positions the blades of the engine' farther from or nearer to the shaft 1 and correspondingly increases or diminishes the leverage thereof,

The blades 7 are pivotally mounted on the outer portions of the arms 5 as shown in Fig. 5, and each blade is connected by meansY of a pull and push rod or link 18 with an underlying disk shaped or turntable 19, the latter having at its under side a h'ub 20 formed with an annular groove 21 to receive ashifting ring 22. A rod 23 extends downwardlyfrom the ring 22 and is connected to a thumb latch lever 24 pivotally mounted at 25 on the frame 15, the latch of the lever 24 engaging an arcuate rack 26 having a xed relation to the frame 15. In raising and lowering the table 19, the latter engages a spiral groove 27 in the sleeve la, so that simultaneously with the raising and lowering of the table 19, the latter is caused to partially rotate and thereby swing the lower edges of the blades 9 toward and from the horizontal position. This enables the blades to be adjusted either to a vertical position or to a horizontal position or to any intermediate angle or pitch. Thus when the engine is used in connection with an air-craft, the blades may be made to elevate the machine rapidly or allow the same to descend at any desired speed or to hover over a given spot, and also to act as a parachute when the engine is brought to a stop.

The airy driven engine is silent in operation, thus adapting the air-craft especially for army purposes, enabling the aviator and occupants of the machine to ily over the enemy silently and drop bombs upon the enemy while hovering, or while traveling at a low speed. The lifting effect of said wings or blades on the machine may be increased or diminishedlby varying the angles or pitch of such blades. By bringing said blades to a horizontal position or nearl so, the machine may be brought to a stan still and caused to hover over a given point. The

`speed of the machine may be regulated by extending or retracting the arms 5 ofthe blades 7, thereby increasing or decreasing the leverage of the wing and proportionately regulating the speed of the engine shaft, and the number of oscillations of the beating wings per minute. 1

I claim 1. In an engine of the class specified, the combination of a normally vertical rotary shaft, a hub loosely surrounding said shaft, a circular series of blades encircling said hub, blade carrying arms extending outwardly from said hub, and means for moving said arms longitudinally to vary the distance between` said blades and shaft.

2. In an engine of the class described, the

ing arms slidable through said hub, spiral teeth on said shaft, rack teeth on said arms, and means for imparting a relative'rotative movement to said shaft and hub to project and retract said blade carrying arms.

3. In an engine of the class described, the combination of a rotary engine shaft having a spirally threaded portion, a hub loosely surrounding said threaded portion of the shaft and having guideways disposed tangentially with relation to said shaft, a circular series of blades surrounding said hub, blade carrying arms slidable through said guideways in the hub and having rackfaces in engagement with the spiral threaded portionV of said shaft, said blades being pivotally mounted on the respective carrying arms, a turn table having a slidable and partially rotatable engagement with said shaft, links connecting said turn table with said pivotally mounted blades, and means for shifting said turntable longitudinally of said shaft toy impart a pivotal movement to said blades. f v

et. In an engine of the class described, the combination of a rotary engine shaft having a spirally threaded portion, 'a rhub loosely surrounding said threaded portion of the shaft and having guideways disposed tangentially with relation to said shaft, a circular series of blades surrounding said hub, blade carrying arms slidable through said guideways in the hub and having rack faces in engagement with the spirally threaded portion of said shaft, said blades being pivotally mounted on the respective carrying arms, a turn table having a slidable and partially rotatable engagement with said shaft, links connecting said turn table` with said pivotally mounted blades, means for shifting said turn table longitudinally of said shaft to impart a pivotal movement to said blades, and means for locking said turn table in any position to which it may be shifted.

v5. In an engine of the class described, the combination of a rotary engine shaft having a spirally threaded portion, a hub normally looseon said threaded portion of the shaft and having guideways extending therethrough, a circular series of blades sur-.`

rounding said hub, blade carrying arms slidl able through said guideways ,inthe hub and having rack faces to engage the threadedv portion of said shaft, asup'porting frame, a step in which said shaft is journaled, and means for raising and lowering said step to correspondingly raise and lower the shaft in relation to said hub, whereby the blade carrying arms may be projected and retracted.

6. In an engine of the class described, the combination of a rotary-engine shaft having a spirally threaded portion, a hub normally loose on said threaded portion of the shaft and having guideways extending therethrough, a circular series of blades surrounding said hub, blade carrying arms slidable through said guideways in the hub and having rack faces to engage the threaded portion of said shaft, a supporting frame, a step in which said shaft is journaled, meansfor raising and lowering said step to correspondingly raise and lower the shaft in relation to said hub, whereby the blade carrying arms may be projected and retracted, said means including a thumb latch lever, a retaining rack for said lever, and an CLARENCE ERNEST HOLT. 

